Apparatus for removing individual laminates from a continuous backing sheet



July 1, 1969 E. F. TOWNSEND 3,452,712

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INDIVIDUAL LAMINATES FROM A CONTINUOUS BACKLNG SHEET Filed Aug. 29, 1966 Sheet. I

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July I, 1969 E. F. TOWNSEND 3,452,712

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INDIVIDUAL LAMINATES FROM A Filed Aug. 29, 1966 CONTINUOUS BACKTNG SHEET 7 Sheet 3 of3 A I r July 1, 1969 E. F. TOWNSEND 3,452,712

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INDIVIDUAL LAMINATES FROM A CONTINUOUS BACKENG SHEET Filed Aug. 29, 1966 Sheet 3 of s United States Patent APPARATUS FOR REMOVING INDIVIDUAL LAMINATES FROM A CONTINUOUS BACK- ING SHEET Edwin F. Townsend, Palos Hills, 11]., assignor to Easco Leasing Corporation Filed Aug. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 581,414 Int. Cl. BtlSc 1/08; B32b 35/00 US. Cl. 118-249 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Description of the invention This invention concerns apparatus for the removal of thin adhesive-backed laminates from a protective backing sheet. In particular, it concerns the removal of individual pre-cut metal foil appliques from continuous strips or rolls of thin paper backing.

Adhesive-backed appliques serve widely as labels, name plates and in other decorative applications. They are conventionally backed with paper which is treated with a release agent so that it may readily be peeled from the back of the applique which may then be applied to the intended surface. A convenient method of packaging and storing such appliques is to apply the individual parts to a continuous strip or web of backing sheet which may be rolled around a mandrel and subsequently stored or shipped in rolled form.

When the individual laminates are to be used, they are stripped from the roll, the adhesive activated by solvent if of that type, and the backing sheet discarded. Separating the individual parts from the backing sheet and readying them for application is a difficult task for the operator where it involves manual separation of the applique from its backing sheet and the handling of the adhesive backed part to apply solvent. It is desirable to free the operator from as much of this operation as possible, thereby enabling him to devote his attention to positioning the part on the intended surface and relieving him of the tedious, messy and difficult task of stripping each individual laminate by hand and applying solvent.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the stripping of individual appliques from a rolled backing sheet which relieves the operator of the task of stripping the laminate and activating its adhesive by hand. In more particularity, this object contemplates an apparatus for this purpose which will produce a stripped, solvent-activated applique ready for use at the touch of a button.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a label-stripping apparatus for dispensing laminates from a rolled backing sheet, which, when triggered by the operator, will draw the backing sheet from the roll until a laminate is found, strip and dispense the laminate with its adhesive activated and ready for application, and then stop until another cycle is initiated by the operator. Allied with this object is the provision of such an apparatus which may be controlled by a timer, thereby dispensing parts at regular predetermined time intervals regardless of the particular spacing of the parts on the rolled backing sheet.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description and dependent claims and upon reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section taken through the power train of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a section taken in the plane 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken in the plane 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective of the sensing lever and switch which forms a part of the apparatus; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic circuit diagram of the control circuit of the apparatus.

Turning to the drawings, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a label-stripping machine constructed according to the present invention. The machine consists of a sheet-metal frame 11 carrying a roll 12 of individual appliques on a continuous backing sheet. The roll 12 of individual appliques is supported at the rear of the machine on an arm 13 having a cross shaft 14 over which the hub 15 of the roll 12 may be slipped and secured by a wing nut 16.

As will be explained more fully hereinafter, the operator initiates the process of stripping and dispensing a part by pressing a pushbutton actuating switch 17. When the machine finds -a part on the roll 12, the part is stripped and presented to the operator on a rack '18 where it may be easily grasped. A supply of solvent for use with solvent-activatable adhesives is contained in a reservoir jar 20 suspended above the machine and feeding solvent through a feed tube 21. A return tube 22 controls the flow of solvent from the reservoir 20 and maintains a constant level of solvent within the machine.

The roll 12 consists of a continuous backing sheet 25 having individual appliques 26 adhering to it at spaced locations. The spacing is not always exactly the same from one applique 26 to the next because of'certain inaccuracies during the application of the parts to the roll. Occasional blank spaces due to a missing part may also exist, but these are accommodated by the present apparatus as will be hereinafter explained.

Guiding the backing sheet 25 as it is drawn from the roll 12 is a web guide 27 which is rigidly attached to the frame 11. The backing sheet 25 is thus directed into the stripping apparatus, which consists basically of a stripping plate 28, a pair of pull-through pinion rolls 30, 31, a pair of delivery rollers 32, 33, and a hold-down roller 34. The stripping is accomplished by drawing the backing sheet 25 with its attached applique 26 over the relatively sharp radius 36 of the stripping plate 28. The applique 26, being of relatively stiff material such as metal foil, is unable to follow the sharp change of direction over the radius 36, while the thin paper backing sheet 25 does so easily. It may therefore be seen that by merely pulling the backing sheet strip 25 down and away from the stripping plate 28 the applique 26 continues forward and into the delivery rollers 32, 33. The applique and backing sheet are guided into engagement with the stripping plate 28 by the hold-down roller 34 which turns freely and is made sufficiently heavy to supply the required hold-down force without the use of springs or other pressure means. The roller 33 also rotates freely against its companion delivery roller 32, being held down merely by its own weight. This is sufficient to cause the delivery rollers 32, 33 to pull the stripped applique 26 forward away from the stripping plate 28 after the applique is finally freed from the backing sheet 25.

The delivery roller 32 is preferably fabricated from a stack of felt disks in order to provide a wicking action to transfer solvent from a solvent tray 35 fed from the reservoir 16 by the feed tube 17 and return tube 18 in the well-known manner of a watering device. From the delivery rollers 32, 33, the applique 26 is deposited on the rack 18, which consists merely of several parallel wire fingers directed outward so that the operator may grasp the part between the individual fingers and lift or pull it away. I

In accordance with the invention, the pull-through pinion rollers 30, 31 are connected to their source of driving power by a clutch so that they may be started and stopped intermittently. A drive motor 37 powers a drive pinion 38 which in turn drives a gear 39 on one end of the delivery roller 32. For powering the pinion rollers 30, 31, an idler gear 40 is also provided which meshes with the drive pinion and is mounted on a shiftable lever 41 pivoted about the drive axis of the motor 37 and drive pinion 38. The drive pinion 38 and idler gear 40 are thus always in mesh. A pinion roll drive gear 42 is aflixed to the end of the driven pinion roll 31, and by shifting the lever 41 to one side, the idler gear 40 comes into mesh with the roll drive gear 42, causing it to be driven. Shifting is accomplished by means of a solenoid 43 connected to the lever 41 by a link 45. A return spring 46 serves to draw the lever 41 back when the solenoid 43 is deenergized, disengaging the gears. The motor 37 runs continuously while the stripping machine is in operation, and the delivery rollers 32, 33 are thereby continuously driven, while the pinion rollers 30, 31 are driven intermittently through the clutching action of the pinion drive gear 42 and idler gear 40 as selectively engaged by the solenoid 43.

The path of the backing sheet web 25 as it passes over the sharp radius 36 of the stripping plate 28 turns back upon itself somewhat so that the backing sheet makes about a 45 angle to itself as it is drawn over the radius 36. This insures that the applique 26 will be broken free and stripped off as the backing sheet is drawn through. The angle is maintained by a crossbar 47 over which the backing sheet 25 passes to enter the nip of the pinion rollers 30, 31. There pinion rollers 30, 31 are caused to engage and firmly grip the backing sheet 25 as it is pulled through by supporting one roller 30 on a pair of pivoted bars 48 in which the ends of the roller 30 are journaled. Each bar 48 is pivoted about a fulcrum 50, and the roller 30 is resiliently urged into engagement with the driven roller 31 by spring 51 at the base of each bar 48.

In order to momentarily spread the pinion rollers 30, 31 for purposes of threading the backing sheet web 25 into the mechanism when loading a new roll 12 into the machine, a cam 52 is provided which is rotatable by means of an external knob 53 where it may be easily grasped by the operator. By turning the knob 53 90, the cam 52 urges the lower portion of the bar 48 against the springs 51, and the pinion rollers 30, 31 are thereby spread for loading.

As a further feature of the invention, a sensing means is provided which detects the presence of a stripped applique 26 and halts the pulling action of the pinion rollers 30, 31 When a part has been delivered to the rack 18. A sensitive trip lever 55 is provided for this purpose. The trip lever, as is best shown in FIG. 5, consists of a crossbar 56 pivoted to the frame 11 at each end, and provided with an L-shaped bracket 57 which is resiliently but movably urged into the path of appliques issuing from the stripper plate 28 by a spring 58 which is. pinned to one end of the crossbar 56. At the other end, a trip arm 60 is provided which engages a wire finger 61 attached to the operating shaft of a sensitive momentary-contact DPST electrical switch 62. The switch 62 is preferably of a type generally known as a coin switch because a very small force (such as the weight of a coin) is suflicient to actuate it. The switch 62 is actuated by movement of the wire finger 61 over a relatively small arc, such as To avoid damage in the event of a jam, or if the operator attempts to manipulate the trip lever 55 by hand, the trip arm 60 is made of relatively flexible spring wire to allow it to flex Without damage to the switch 62.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a part 26 is carried forward 4 into the nip of the delivery rollers 32, 33 by the drawing action of the pinion rollers 30, 31 on the backing sheet 25, the trip lever 55 is forced downward, actuating the switch 62. After the laminate 26 has passed through the delivery rollers 32, 35 and cleared the trip lever 55, the trip lever is again returned to its normal position by the spring 58, and the switch 62 returns to its normal position.

Further according to the invention, a circuit means is provided whereby the stripping machine, when actuated by the operator by means of the push-button switch 17, continues to draw the backing sheet web 25 from the roll 12 until a laminate is found, stripped, and delivered to the rack 18. To accomplish this function, a relay 63 is provided which is energized on actuation of the push-button 17 to close a first and a second set of contacts 65, 66. The first contacts 65 complete that portion of the circuit including the solenoid 43, thereby engaging the pinion roller drive gear 42 with the idler gear 40 as has been previously described. The second contacts 66 connect the relay 63 through the sensitive switch 62 attached to the trip lever 55.

The sensiive DPST switch 62 is in its normal position as illustrated in FIG. 6 when the trip lever 55 is not depressed. It will be seen that only a momentary actuation of the push-button 13 is necessary to pull in the relay 63, which stays energized due to the fact that the normally closed contacts 67 of switch 62 serve to complete the relay circuit through the second relay contacts 66 which are also closed while the relay 63 remains energized. As soon as an applique 26 depresses the trip lever 55, the switch 62 is thrown to its alternate position in which the relay circuit is broken by the opening of contacts 67, the relay falls out, thereby opening the switch contacts 65, 66. However, the solenoid 43 still remains energized due to the fact that its circuit is now completed by the normally open contacts 68 of the switch 62. The pinion rollers 30, 31 thus continue to operate, drawing the backing web 25 through and continuing to strip off the applique 26. When the part 26 has been completely stripped and carried past th trip lever 55 by the delivery rollers 32, 33, the trip lever 55 and the connected sensitive switch 62 return to their normal positions, breaking the circuit of the solenoid 43 and interrupting the power to the pinion rollers 30, 31. The movement of the backing web 25 is thus stopped until the cycle is again initiated by actuating the push-button 17.

In keeping with the invention, manual or automatic operation is provided. For manual operation, a foot pedal switch 70 is connected in parallel with the push-button switch 17, so that either switch can be used to initiate the operating cycle of the machine. An off-on master switch 71 is also provided at the front of the machine, and a pilot light 72 is located adjacent the off-on switch 71 to indicate that the machine is running and ready for operation.

For automatic operation, an interval timer 73 and associated switch 74 may also be utilized to cause the machine to strip and present an applique 26 for use by the operator at predetermined spaced intervals of time, thus freeing the operator entirely from manual operation of the machine.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a stripping machine for removing separate individual laminates adhered by a layer of adhesive to a backing sheet web, having a stripping plate having an edge over which said backing sheet and adhering laminates may be drawn to dislodge said laminates from said backing sheet, and pull-through means for engaging said backing sheet and drawing it past said edge to dislodge said laminate; the combination comprising, selectively engageable power means for powering said pull-through means, means including a switch for initiating the powering of said pullthrough means, sensing means for detecting the detachment of a laminate from said backing sheet, and circuit means for disengaging said power means when said sensing means has detected that said laminate has been detached.

2. A stripping machine according to claim 1 including relay means for maintaining the powering of said pullthrough means after said initiation and in which said circuit means opens said relay means responsive to said sensing means.

3. A stripping machine according to claim 1 in which said sensing means comprises a resiliently swingable lever, which lever is displaced by the presence of a laminate in process of being stripped, a switch electrically interconnected with said circuit means, and a motion-transmitting coupling operably interconnecting said lever and said switch.

4. A stripping machine according to claim 3 in which said lever is positioned in the path of a laminate issuing from said stripping plate in process of being stripped and after said backing sheet has been drawn away therefrom.

5. A stripping machine according to claim 1 and further comprising a pair of cooperating delivery rollers in constant rotation during machine operation for drawing stripped laminates away from said stripping plate and past said sensing means.

6. A stripping machine according to claim 5 for removing separate individual laminates adhered by a layer of solvent-activatable adhesive to a backing sheet web further comprising means for feeding solvent to one of said constantly driven rollers engaging the adhesive on the back side of said laminates, said one of said driven rollers being adapted to coat the adhesive with the solvent.

7. A stripping machine according to claim 1 in which said pull-through means comprises a pair of resiliently engaged rollers and said power means includes a clutch, said rollers being driven by said power means through said clutch.

8. A stripping machine according to claim 1 in which said means including a switch for initiating the powering of said pull-through means includes a timer for repetitively and automatically cycling the stripping operation.

9. In a stripping machine for removing separate individual laminates adhered by a layer of adhesive to a backing sheet web, having a frame, a stripping plate on said frame having an edge over which said backing sheet and adhering laminates may be drawn to separate said backing sheet from the adhesive on said laminates, and a support for positioning a roll of unstripped laminates in feeding position relative to said stripping plate; the combination comprising, a pair of resiliently engaged pull-through rollers located adjacent said stripping plate and engageable with said backing sheet as said backing sheet is pulled past the edge of said stripping plate, a pair of constantlydriven rollers in the path of stripped laminates issuing from the said stripping plate and engageable for drawing said laminates past said stripping plate, a motor drivingly connected to said pull-through rollers through a selectively operable solenoid-actuated clutch, circuit means for controlling said clutch including a first switch for engaging said clutch to initiate the drawing of said backing sheet past said stripping plate thereby dislodging said laminates, said circuit means also including a relay for maintaining the engagement of said clutch after the release of said switch, and a resiliently swingable lever in the path of dislodged laminates issuing from said stripping plate, said lever being operably connected to a second switch interconnected with said circuit means and effective to disengage said relay and clutch, thereby halting the stripping process after an individual laminate has been stripped from said backing sheet and drawn past said lever.

10. A stripping machine according to claim 9 having means for feeding solvent to one of said constantly driven rollers engaging the adhesive in the back of the laminates for coating the adhesive with the solvent.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 509,213 11/1893 Friedlander 118-249 XR 2,802,598 8/ 1957 Petterson 221-13 3,006,502 lO/1961 Tobey 221-73 3,080,848 3/1963 Grubelic 118-249 3,033,417 5/l962 Van Meer 221-13 3,169,895 2/1965 Sohn 156-361 BILLY J. WILHITE, Primary Examiner. ROBERT I. SMITH, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

